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Practice Faster, Not Slower?
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Alphonsus Jr.
Oct 12, 2012, 1:35:20 AM10/12/12
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According to the principles of "deliberate practice," one should very mindfully push oneself during practice to play challenging passages a bit faster than comfortable. Good advice?
Murdick
Oct 12, 2012, 9:38:32 AM10/12/12
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On Friday, October 12, 2012 12:35:20 AM UTC-5, Alphonsus Jr. wrote:
> According to the principles of "deliberate practice," one should very mindfully push oneself during practice to play challenging passages a bit faster than comfortable. Good advice?
Where the hell have been Jackson?
> According to the principles of "deliberate practice," one should very mindfully push oneself during practice to play challenging passages a bit faster than comfortable. Good advice?
David Raleigh Arnold
Oct 12, 2012, 11:24:08 AM10/12/12
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--
Guitar teaching materials and original music for all styles and levels.
Site: http://www.openguitar.com (()) eMail: d.raleig...@gmail.com
Contact: http://www.openguitar.com/contact.html"
Murdick
Oct 12, 2012, 3:09:34 PM10/12/12
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I hate agreeing DR, but I agree here.
dsi1
Oct 12, 2012, 3:56:46 PM10/12/12
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On 10/11/2012 7:35 PM, Alphonsus Jr. wrote:
> According to the principles of "deliberate practice," one should very mindfully push oneself during practice to play challenging passages a bit faster than comfortable. Good advice?
>
If you can play a piece faster than comfortable, the piece ain't
> According to the principles of "deliberate practice," one should very mindfully push oneself during practice to play challenging passages a bit faster than comfortable. Good advice?
>
challenging enough. Get harder pieces. You should only practice pieces
that you can't play.
I. M. Rowin
Oct 12, 2012, 4:55:37 PM10/12/12
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<You should only practice pieces that you can't play.>
Great news! This means that I'm practicing the right pieces, since I can't
play anything.
I.M.
JonLorPro
Oct 12, 2012, 5:18:56 PM10/12/12
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On Oct 12, 1:35 am, "Alphonsus Jr." <alphonsu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> According to the principles of "deliberate practice," one should very mindfully push oneself during practice to play challenging passages a bit faster than comfortable. Good advice?
Good or bad, depending upon how you parse the much that is impacted
> According to the principles of "deliberate practice," one should very mindfully push oneself during practice to play challenging passages a bit faster than comfortable. Good advice?
into your qualification of "push oneself..."etc. with "mindfully", and
its subsequent reinforcement of "a bit"
On the surface, it doesn't seem like good advice. A reactionary
response would be to its raising the alarm of suggesting the novice
practice error, of taking a chunk of material (often too large a
chunk, but that would make for another inquiry) and as soon as the
notes have been learned in the right order, launching then into
sessions of militaristic forays into its territory, trying to beat it
into an immediate capitulation in yielding up the to ones hands the
sought after tempo of execution, upon which will secondarily be
overlaid the manner of expression one desires.
But in seeking to emulate favored avatars of performance, though one
may be struck first by the surface notability of the tempi at which
he, she, they, are able to execute any particular challenging
passage, the more salient characteristic is the relaxed ease with
which they are able to do so.
It's a matter of finding ones cruise speed, one at which all the micro-
motions and nuances are accessible to one's control- even those in
the process over time of being turned over to the suzereinty of ones
automatic pilot are not thereby placed beyond the reach of one's
consciousness for modulation of delivery if necessary. After that, my
theory is that with practice, ones cruise speed just about can't
_not_ increase, almost automatically. Either the subjective
metronome steps up gradually, or at some point one becomes aware of
more headroom into which one can move with the realization "Hey! I
could easily do this faster!"- and so one does.
There is nothing wrong in stretching the envelope by trying to further
this process deliberately- just to see what happens when the tempo is
"mindfully" pushed "a bit". A foray that is a cautious fact-finding
mission, exploratory rather than miltaristic. That seems to me to be
the prudent interpretation of the suggestion.
So what is the difference between this and a reckless advance? That's
a balance for you to decide. The fastest you can play a passage is
likely too fast- a clue would be if at a chosen tempo there are
details that are so fleeting as to escape control, to the detriment of
how it is being delivered- the passage is playing you instead of you
playing it. Just beneath that point would be a suitable stretch.
That would be the tactic I read into "mindful" from the above. The
overall _strategy_ of "mindful" is more than that. The strategy lies
in the recognition that, though effective practice does entail
repetition, and a lot of it, repetition is not propitiation. It is
not a ritual for which, if dutifully performed and totted up, one is
then awarded as if in dispensation from the gods-of-guitar the
packaged ability-to-play. The "mindful" aspect is in maintaining
awareness of the exigencies. Make technical decisions anew each time,
even if the same as before, reinforce them, confirm your appreciation
as to why they were made. Don't be too eager to relinquish to
acquired muscle memory- it will have to go there eventually, it would
drive anyone nuts if all the minute details of playing remained
constantly afloat on the surface of the mind- but don't allow muscle
memory to swallow up details as if in the course of the immutable
progress of an amoeba. Keep them for yourself for a considerable
time, let them go when you're ready. That is a practice _of_
practice whereby what _is_ paracticed is imbued with a permanency of
resurrectable access.
dsi1
Oct 12, 2012, 5:42:47 PM10/12/12
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still need polishing up. That final 10% is a real bitch.
Alphonsus Jr.
Oct 12, 2012, 6:39:11 PM10/12/12
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As for the rest, I'm sure all of us must spend some time attempting to absorb it. In the meantime, readers might additionally consult this:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391794/index.htm
I hate the devaluation of talent by the deliberate practice gurus, but still, you might find that article to be interesting.
Also:
http://www.practiceonus.com/the-buzz/47-the-idea-of-deliberate-practice-is-not-a-new-concept
JonLorPro
Oct 12, 2012, 7:45:25 PM10/12/12
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On Oct 12, 6:39 pm, "Alphonsus Jr." <alphonsu...@gmail.com> wrote:
.>
> Bravo! I particularly like your use of "suzereinty."...
"Suzerainty"
Better had I spelled it correctly... for the record, I'm not claiming
it as a that wasn't a typo. I had it wrong, had to look it up.
>
> As for the rest, I'm sure all of us must spend some time attempting to absorb it. In the meantime, readers might additionally consult this:
>
> http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/839...
>
>
> Also:
>
> http://www.practiceonus.com/the-buzz/47-the-idea-of-deliberate-practi...- Hide quoted text -
>
What it all boils down to is something I've had to rediscover over
and over again, subjected as I am to the vagaries of the fluctuating
assiduosity with which I adhere to the practices I preach- practicing
works!
.>
> On Friday, October 12, 2012 2:18:56 PM UTC-7, JonLorPro wrote:
> > It's a matter of finding ones cruise speed, one at which all the micro-
>
> > motions and nuances are accessible to one's control- even those in
>
> > the process over time of being turned over to the suzereinty of ones
>
> > automatic pilot....
> > It's a matter of finding ones cruise speed, one at which all the micro-
>
> > motions and nuances are accessible to one's control- even those in
>
> > the process over time of being turned over to the suzereinty of ones
>
> Bravo! I particularly like your use of "suzereinty."...
"Suzerainty"
Better had I spelled it correctly... for the record, I'm not claiming
it as a that wasn't a typo. I had it wrong, had to look it up.
>
> As for the rest, I'm sure all of us must spend some time attempting to absorb it. In the meantime, readers might additionally consult this:
>
>
>
> Also:
>
> http://www.practiceonus.com/the-buzz/47-the-idea-of-deliberate-practi...- Hide quoted text -
>
What it all boils down to is something I've had to rediscover over
and over again, subjected as I am to the vagaries of the fluctuating
assiduosity with which I adhere to the practices I preach- practicing
works!
Steve Freides
Oct 15, 2012, 10:17:24 AM10/15/12
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manner, using a variety of methods chosen with an eye towards improving
one or perhaps a few aspects of performance.
Speaking for myself only, I have found that when I know I will have to
play a passage in performance that is beyond my technical abilities, I
benefit the most - and therefore end up performing it best - when most
of my practice is within my comfort zone, especially at the beginning of
the period of time during which I'll be practicing the piece.
Slight change of subject - one thing pianists do much more often than
guitarists, at least in my experience, is not play all the music that's
written. Particularly with an orchestral reduction, e.g., I recently
accompanied a Weber clarinet concerto, me on piano - I on the fly
"edited" to come up with a simpler orchestral reduction that fit my own
playing abilities better. I didn't bother to write down my changes, I
just figured out what I thought was the best solution to the problems of
the score as they came up.
Another slight change of subject - I don't think one should perform
"challenging" passages if at all possible. Work on them until they're
no longer challenging. Speaking as an audience member, I don't enjoy
watching someone struggle.
-S-
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